This course is designed to introduce students to Russian language and culture through a variety of reading, listening, writing and speaking activities, all aimed at the development of intermediate communicative competence. It provides students with a basic, but solid knowledge of grammar and syntax, a functional vocabulary, familiarity with basic intonational patterns and pronunciation, and practice in speaking, reading, writing, listening, as well as an elementary knowledge of Russian culture.

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:

• understand simple written texts or short spoken passages without the aid of a dictionary;
• satisfy most immediate writing needs in the form of notes and brief personal correspondence;
• carry on a short, elementary conversation, dealing with survival situations, asking and answering questions, speaking in complete sentences, and creating with the language (Intermediate Low proficiency on the ACTFL scale).

The socio-cultural knowledge acquired should enable students to function successfully in Russian printed and spoken language.

Course Requirements:

Three hours of co-curricular conversational activities (Russian tables and teas), weekly vocabulary quizzes, biweekly tests and a final written and oral exam.

Intended Audience:

Recommended for students wishing to make rapid but solid progress in Russian and for students planning to concentrate in Russian or REES. No previous knowledge of Russian is required or assumed.

Class Format:

This course welcomes entirely online participation. While there will be optional in-person components, no part of this course requires you to be on campus or present in-person. The grammar lectures will be recorded and made available asynchronously. Reading, listening and writing practice will be available with self-guided online lessons. We will also have biweekly discussion/conversation sessions that require synchronous participation through Zoom.